[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44263-44264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18432]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. ONRR-2012-0003]
Establishment of the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative Advisory Committee and Request for Nominees
AGENCY: Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior is establishing and
seeking nominations for the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (USEITI) Advisory Committee. The Committee is being
established to advise the Department on the implementation the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which requires
governments to publicly disclose their revenues from oil, gas, and
mining assets and for companies to make parallel disclosures regarding
payments. The Committee will serve as the initial Multi-Stakeholder
Group and its duties will include consideration and fulfillment of the
tasks required to achieve candidate and compliant status in the EITI.
DATES: Submit nominations to the Committee by August 27, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit nominations to the Committee by any of the
following methods.
Mail or hand-carry nominations to Ms. Shirley Conway;
Department of the Interior; Office of Natural Resources Revenue; 1801
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 400; Washington, DC 20006.
Email nominations to [email protected] or
[email protected]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shirley Conway, Office of Natural
Resources Revenue; telephone (202) 254-5554; fax (202) 254-5589; email
[email protected]. Mailing address: Department of the Interior;
Office of Natural Resources Revenue; 1801 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Suite 400; Washington, DC 20006.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the Department of the Interior, announce
the establishment of the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (USEITI) Advisory Committee. We are establishing the
committee in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), and with the
concurrence of the General Services Administration.
The Committee will:
Serve as the initial Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) to
oversee the U.S. implementation of the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global standard for governments to
publicly disclose revenues received from oil, gas, and mining assets
belonging to the government, with parallel public disclosure by
companies of payments to the government (e.g. royalties, rents,
bonuses, taxes, or other payments).
Develop and recommend to the Secretary a fully-costed work
plan, containing measurable targets and a timetable for implementation,
and incorporating an assessement of capacity contraints. This plan
shall be developed in consultation with key EITI stakeholders and
published upon completion.
Provide opportunities for collaboration and consultation
among stakeholders.
Advise the Secretary and post for consideration by other
stakeholders proposals for conducting long-term oversight and other
activities necessary to achieve EITI candidate and compliant status.
We are seeking nominations for individuals to be considered as
Committee members. Nominations should include a resume providing an
adequate description of the nominee's qualifications, including
information that would enable the Department of the Interior to make an
informed decision regarding meeting the membership requirements of the
Committee and permit the Department of the Interior to contact a
potential member. We strongly encourage that parties work with and
within stakeholder sectors (including industry, civil society, and
government sectors, as the EITI process defines) to jointly consider
and submit nominations that reflect the diversity and breadth of their
sector.
Members of the Committee will include non-Federal representatives
from the extractive industry, including oil, gas, and mining companies
and industry-related trade associations; civil society, including
organizations with interest in the extractive industry, transparency,
and government oversight
[[Page 44264]]
and members of the public; State and local governments; and Tribal
governments and individual Indian mineral owners. Federal members of
the Committee will include representatives of the Office of Natural
Resources Revenue, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the
Treasury, the Department of State, and the Department of Energy. The
Committee will consist of approximately 21--but no more than 27--
members to represent a range of interests concerned with implementation
of EITI. In addition to honoring the EITI principle of self-selection
within stakeholder sectors (industry, civil society, and government),
the following criteria will be considered in making final selections:
(1) Understanding of and commitment to the EITI process.
(2) Ability to collaborate and operate in a multi-stakeholder
setting.
(3) Access to and support from a relevant stakeholder constituency
and authority to make decisions on its behalf.
(4) Basic understanding of the extractive industry and/or revenue
collection or willingness to be educated on such matters.
(5) Ability to represent U.S.-based constituents, organizations,
and institutions, or companies with significant operations in the U.S.
No individual who is currently registered as a Federal lobbyist is
eligible to serve as a member of the Committee.
The Committee will meet quarterly or at the request of the
Designated Federal Officer. Members of the Committee will serve without
compensation. However, we may pay the travel and per diem expenses of
Non-Federal Committee members, if appropriate, under the Federal Travel
Regulations.
Background: In September 2011, President Barack Obama announced the
United States' commitment to participate in the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative. EITI is a signature initiative of the U.S.
National Action Plan for the international Open Government Partnership
and offers a voluntary framework for governments and companies to
publicly disclose, in parallel, the revenues paid and received for
extraction of oil, gas, and minerals that belong to the government.
Each framework is country-specific, and is the result of a multi-
year, consensus-based process by a multi-stakeholder group comprised of
government, industry, and civil society representatives. On October 25,
2011, President Obama named Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar as
the U.S. Senior Official responsible for implementing USEITI. In
response, Secretary Salazar posted an entry on a White House blog that
same day committing to work with industry and civil society to
implement USEITI. To ensure the best possible job of stakeholder
outreach, we retained an independent facilitator, the Consensus
Building Institute (CBI), to conduct a stakeholder assessment as part
of the USEITI implementation process.
On February 24, 2012 (74 FR 11151), we published a notice in the
Federal Register seeking public comment on formation of a multi-
stakeholder group to implement USEITI. In that notice, we committed to
a series of public listening sessions to provide additional
opportunities for public comment. In March 2012, we conducted listening
sessions in St. Louis, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; and
Washington, DC. CBI analyzed the input from these four public listening
sessions, interviews with potential stakeholders, and written comments
submitted to Interior. The input formed the basis of CBI's draft
stakeholder assessment and findings regarding options for establishing
the United States' multi-stakeholder group.
On May 3, 2012 (77 FR 26315), we published a notice in the Federal
Register announcing a second public comment period, from May 18 through
June 29, 2012, seeking feedback on CBI's draft stakeholder assessment
and the recommended options for establishing the United States' multi-
stakeholder group, which was published on May 18, 2012. As part of the
second comment period, we held three public listening sessions in
Anchorage, Alaska; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and New Orleans,
Louisiana; a public webinar; and a USEITI public workshop on June 22,
2012, in Washington, DC.
CBI analyzed the input from these public listening sessions,
written comments submitted to Interior, and comments and issues raised
by stakeholders at the June 22, 2012, USEITI public workshop. This
input formed the basis of CBI's final stakeholder assessment and
findings regarding establishment of the United States' multi-
stakeholder group.
On July 11, 2012 (77 FR 40893), we published a notice in the
Federal Register announcing publication of CBI's final assessment
regarding options for forming a United States' multi-stakeholder group
that will be responsible for determining the implementation of USEITI.
The assessment stated that the two viable and preferred options for
standing up the MSG were a non-federal entity or a new federal advisory
committee. Based on the results of the assessment and input received at
the June 22, 2012 USEITI public workshop, Interior decided to form a
new federal advisory committee to serve as the initial form of the MSG.
A new federal advisory committee would have the benefit of following a
frequently-used procedure within the U.S. government's legal framework,
and would allow the U.S. government to satisfy its convening
responsibilities, while providing a forum for the MSG to serve its role
in overseeing USEITI implementation.
Certification Statement: I hereby certify that the U.S. Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI) Advisory Committee is
necessary, is in the public interest, and is established under the
authority of the Secretary of the Interior, in support of the Open
Government Partnership and the commitment in the United States'
National Action Plan to implement the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative.
Dated: July 24, 2012.
Ken Salazar,
Secretary, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2012-18432 Filed 7-26-12; 8:45 am]
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